


side effects may vary

by orphan_account



Category: All For the Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-16
Updated: 2016-07-16
Packaged: 2018-07-24 10:42:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7505116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Neil is still mapping out the safe places of Andrew's body and every new territory bestowed upon him is a gift.</p>
            </blockquote>





	side effects may vary

**Author's Note:**

> this was an inevitable turn in my fandom trash life. sigh.

            Neil woke early that morning and got out of bed carefully, trying not to wake Andrew. He grabbed his running shoes and slid the door open, but when he looked back, Andrew was watching him with one eye cracked open. Neil quirked his head in a silent invitation. Andrew frowned at him and then closing his eyes, turned his back to Neil to go back to sleep. Neil smiled at his back before closing the door behind him.

            Abby’s house was silent as Neil pulled on his shoes in the living room. He had paused briefly at the other guest room, but heard only snores inside, so he assumed the other three men were still asleep. It was rare that anyone joined Neil on his morning run, although sometimes Kevin could be talked into it. This morning, Neil was thankful for the solitude.

            It was barely five in the morning, but the day was already muggy, promising to be unbearable later in the day. In another week, the other Foxes would be back and they would be moving back into the dorms. Neil was eager to start team practices again, but less eager to meet the new recruits for the line. The thought of new blood on the line made him uncomfortable, but the thought of being vice-captain over them made him nauseous. It wasn’t something he could talk about with the others, so instead he ran until his thoughts were on nothing but the pavement beneath his feet. It was almost half past six when he made it back to Abby’s house. No one was awake enough to be out and about, so Neil slipped into the shower and padded back to the bedroom.

            Andrew was awake by the time he came back to their shared bedroom. He was sitting in bed propped against the wall with pillows and reading a book when Neil opened the door quietly. He put the book aside to watch Neil as Neil put his dirty clothes into the hamper and sat down on the edge of the bed.

            “You get it out of your system?” Andrew asked. There was no point in denying that he had not, so Neil shrugged instead. Andrew’s hand came up to cup Neil’s neck and Neil sighed, leaning back into the touch. His body ached a bit from the too-long run and the bed was soft and cool. Andrew’s hands tugged at his hair and Neil lay all the way back, his head near Andrew’s knees but not quite touching and his legs hanging off the edge of the bed. He closed his eyes to the feeling of Andrew’s fingers in his hair.

            “They won’t hate you as much as they’ll hate Kevin,” Andrew said after several minutes of comfortable silence. Neil huffed a laugh and when he turned to look up at Andrew, his nose brushed against Andrew’s knee. Andrew’s hand froze on the back of Neil’s neck for a split second before his fingers twisted back into Neil’s hair again as if nothing had happened.

            “Sorry,” Neil murmured and lifted himself to scoot a little further from Andrew. Andrew’s hand on his shoulder stopped him and pushed Neil closer instead, so Neil’s cheek rested on the side of Andrew’s thigh. Neil craned his neck a bit to look up at Andrew and found Andrew staring thoughtfully back at where Neil’s face was touching him. “Andrew?” he asked.

            “Yes,” Andrew said. It was an answer and not a question. Neil searched his face, but it was carefully blank. Neil allowed another few seconds to elapse before he allowed himself to relax, cheek resting against the thin fabric of Andrew’s track pants with the promise of warm skin underneath. Andrew leaned against the wall and grabbed his book without another word. Neil watched him read until his eyes grew too heavy and he allowed his lids to flutter shut, although he didn’t sleep, couldn’t sleep with his face pressed against Andrew. It was an unlooked for intimacy that Neil recognized as precious and he wanted to memorize the moment exactly as it was.

            There were rules. Neil was still learning all of them, making maps and notes wherever he could. Andrew’s shoulders were now neutral territory, but no further than the slope into his biceps. Neil could sometimes touch Andrew’s chest, but only through the fabric of a shirt or sweats and never without asking. Neil could take Andrew’s hand, but only slowly, one finger at a time (and only when they were alone). Andrew’s hair was still the safest place to hang on to, but Neil wanted to learn the unsafe places too. Every new territory bestowed upon him was a gift.

            Neil opened his eyes when noise from down the hallway indicated that someone had finally made it to the kitchen. He turned to look at the clock to find that half the morning was gone already. He didn’t get up but instead looked up to Andrew again to find him watching him with the same thoughtful expression as earlier. Neil’s limbs ached from being in the same position for so long, but he wasn’t quite ready to give up Andrew’s closeness yet so he curled his toes instead, listening as his muscles popped, and pulled his legs onto the bed, re-arranging himself so his knees were bent. It brought him incrementally closer to Andrew and when he leaned his face against Andrew’s leg again, Andrew sighed.

            “I hate you,” Andrew said, but his words were cushioned by his fingers tracing along Neil’s collarbone, pressing pleasantly into the bone. Neil hummed in agreement and Andrew pressed a fingernail sharply into Neil’s skin. Neil looked up at him, but didn’t bat his hand away. Andrew gripped Neil’s neck and hauled him up to a sitting position to press their lips roughly together. Neil sank immediately into the kiss and reached up for Andrew’s face, twisting to better reach him. Andrew’s hand slid to Neil’s shoulder and pressed him sideways back into the bed. Neil slid back to accommodate him and pulled Andrew’s face closer by tugging at his hair. Andrew responded by nipping at Neil’s lips and Neil smiled into his mouth.

            Andrew’s hands slid under Neil’s shirt, grasping for skin, and Neil trailed his kisses onto Andrew’s neck, leaving a trail of sloppy kisses until he reached the collar of Andrew’s shirt. Neil nuzzled his nose into the crook of Andrew’s neck, catching both skin and fabric in the motion, and the other man shivered, leaning into Neil. Andrew pulled away from Neil and with a careful, slow movement, removed Neil’s hands from his head and then purposefully tugged his own shirt over his head and threw it to the side. When Neil did nothing but gape at him, Andrew grabbed his hands by the wrist and returned them to their position on his shoulders. Andrew’s hands lingered on top of Neil’s hands there and Neil felt as if he so much as breathed, the moment would be ruined.

            It wasn’t that he had never seen Andrew shirtless before – there had been plenty of times in the gym or locker room that he had caught a glimpse of Andrew’s chest, but never quite like this. The feeling of his hands on Andrew’s bare shoulders and the weight of Andrew’s hands on top of his was so overwhelming that Neil’s mind was blank with shock. Neil licked his lips, trying to find the right words, but when that failed him, he flipped his wrists over and slowly tangled his fingers with Andrew’s, lifting their hands away from Andrew’s bare skin and letting them fall on the pillow on either side of Neil’s head. Neil turned his face and kissed Andrew’s knuckle and when he looked back up, Andrew had fixed him with a bottomless gaze. 

            “Why is this enough?” Andrew asked and Neil’s heart constricted painfully at the edge of anger in his voice. Neil kept his gaze steady on Andrew. His fingers closed a little more tightly around Andrew’s and he focused on breathing. “Why don’t you ever ask for more?”

            Neil craned his neck upwards and shifted onto his elbows, still hanging onto Andrew’s hands. He brought himself closer to Andrew and Andrew did not pull away, but just continued to stare at him from where he rested on his knees, straddling Neil.

            “What else would I ask for?” Neil asked.

            “Everything,” Andrew said, his voice rasping at the edges. “Anything.”

            Neil exhaled slowly and disentangled one his hands from Andrew’s, bringing it up to touch Andrew’s neck just below the ear and tracing his finger on Andrew’s jawline. Neil kissed the same spot, ghosting his lips against Andrew’s skin.

            “I don’t want anything else from you except what you want to give,” Neil said, his mouth a bare inch away from Andrew’s ear. Andrew’s free hand tangled in Neil’s hair and tugged him back sharply until Andrew was able to kiss him. His lips were desperate and unforgiving on Neil’s, full of a hunger that made pulled Neil in a hundred different directions.

            Andrew pulled Neil’s hands back to his chest and pulled away for a second, looking down at the contact in the same way that he had looked at Neil’s face against his leg earlier that morning.

            “This is okay,” Andrew said, spreading Neil’s hands across his chest carefully and letting his own hands fall away. Neil did not move his hands, but nodded. Andrew’s chest was hot underneath his fingers and Neil’s fingers bit into the flesh as he flexed his fingers against Andrew. He could remember vividly every time he had been allowed to touch Andrew’s chest through thin fabric and every memory paled in comparison to the smooth skin under his hands now. Neil was a little breathless with the trust that Andrew was giving him, but he didn’t want to take it blindly.

            “Tell me if it isn’t,” Neil said, meeting Andrew’s eyes and waiting for Andrew’s nod before he slid one hand up to pull him back down for a kiss. Andrew pressed his lips against Neil’s until their mouths were sore. Neil kissed everywhere he was allowed, brushing his hands against Andrew’s bare skin in barely concealed wonder and kissing in their wake. Andrew allowed the exploration in complete silence, watching Neil and nodding whenever Neil looked up to check in with him. Finally, Andrew pushed Neil back and slid his hand down to Neil’s pants, letting his hand rest against the straining fabric.

            “Yes or no?” Andrew asked Neil.

            “Yes,” Neil answered. “It’s always yes with you.”


End file.
